Red Bull sitting pretty ahead of Suzuka showdown with McLaren

On the grid: Red Bull’s
Sebastian Vettel and
Mark Webber may just might have the upper hand over rivals McLaren and Ferrari when Formula One pulls into Suzuka this weekend.

Number one: Mark Webber is currently leading the Formula One drivers’ championship heading into Suzuka

On the Suzuka starting grid a bunch of ninjas are running around, and pole position has been occupied by a ten-feet tall dog.

Thousands of fans look on, despite there being no track action for 24 hours. The enthusiasm of the Japanese fans knows no bounds, and tonight they’ll be rewarded with a private viewing of ‘Senna’ – the new documentary.

Lewis Hamilton , with his aggressive style, yellow helmet and McLaren lineage, holds on to this spiritual mantel and is popular here, as is Jenson Button.

A highlight of Suzuka is the only Scalextric-style track crossing in F1, the ‘Spoon’ hairpin which offers overtaking chances, and the mighty ‘130R’ where in 2005 Fernando Alonso proved his championship worth by taking Michael Schumacher around the outside.

With less run-off than most tracks, it punishes errors – as Mark Webber found last year when a crash in third practice meant Red Bull were unable to replace his chassis in time for qualifying.

His team-mate Sebastian Vettel scored a perfect win last October, and that’s what he needs to deliver again if he’s to put his title charge back on track. Second place in Singapore was good, but it could have been better and the aerodynamic demands of Suzuka will play to the RB6’s strengths.

Hamilton is traditionally quick here but has a 20 point deficit to make up on Webber. Button is 25 points behind, which is the reward for a win these days

The McLaren duo really need to pull a double podium out of the bag if they’re to stay in the game.